Unexpected Visit
by MidnightRose24
Summary: While Nico's home alone he gets an unexpected visit from, none other than, Thalia. And that is the night that starts one unexpected, complex relationship that has a fifty-fifty chance of surviving. Rated T for language, some sensuality, & future gore.
1. Unexpected Visit

**Nico's POV**

I picked up the remote and changed the channel from Comedy Central to Spike. The amateur comedian was pretty horrible and I wouldn't expect him to go very far in the comedic business. Besides, CSI is pretty damn amazing.

I watched as Grisom analyzed every angle possible of a miniature model of some room which a homicide had occurred in.

The miniature killer.

Gods, how many episodes were there on this person?

As I was attempting to count the amount of episodes that included the miniature killer, there was a knock at my door.

I stood up from my leather couch- a gift from my father- and walked across my dark apartment. I looked through the peephole and saw the person I least expected to show up at my door; it was Thalia.

When I opened the door, my breath caught in my throat. Her sleek, black hair was a couple inches past her shoulders and it seemed to be pretty straight with just a few spots where it was starting to become wavy. Her skin was tan and clean; her eyes were a startling blue with a look of readiness in them.

Almost everything looked like it had the last time I saw her- Green Day t-shirt, black skinny jeans, black Converse- except for the fact that she didn't have the huntresses' glow anymore.

So the rumors were true- Thalia Grace was no longer the lieutenant of the huntresses.

Thalia seemed to be able to read my thoughts.

"I'm not talking about it, so don't waste your breath," she informed me as she walked by me.

I closed the door and turned the light on. I tried to keep my eyes from widening.

Now that I could see Thalia even better, I had to admire her body. She was a healthy weight and had some curves. I could see the muscles in her legs, despite her jeans, and some muscles in her arms. She had a shitload of confidence- and from time to time, cockiness- and, believe it or not, class.

She was beautiful. Hell, she was the sexiest woman I've ever seen- even if she was only fifteen. Wait, was she sixteen now?

"How old are you?" I blurt out.

"I should be twenty-two, but I'm sixteen now," she said to me over her shoulder, while walking over to the couch and sitting down.

I sat down beside her, making sure that there isn't a huge-ass gap between us, but also making sure that I'm not crowding her. I picked up the remote and muted the TV.

"I'm guessing that you don't live here alone?" she asks while kicking her shoes off.

"I have a roommate, Carlos, he's nineteen and he's actually in one of his night classes, right now, down at the community college." I'm babbling.

"Well, good for him," she nods her head and I imitate her without realizing it at first," how'd you guys meet?" I'm not sure if she actually cares or if she's just making small talk.

"High school. We were in the same social group- still are," I answer, while debating if I should ask the question that's on my mind or not.

"He's not going to freak if he comes home and finds me here, is he?" she looks a little wary.

"No, he's pretty chill," I assure her.

"Okay." She nods her head again, but I don't imitate her this time.

Well, this is going nowhere.

I decide to just take a risk and ask, "Why are you here?"

She turns her body towards mine and folds her hand in her lap, "I needed a place to go where people wouldn't pester me with questions. I figured that you would be smart enough to keep your mouth shut. Weird, I know," she smirks at me.

"Thanks so much," my voice was dripping was sarcasm.

"Yeah, so if you've decided to be stupid, as usual, and ask me questions and try to piss me off for fun, tell me now."

That was Thalia- always being straight forward and just getting the point across loud and clear.

"I'll try not to," I actually mean it, too. I know how it feels to feel like you're at the bottom of the bottom.

She turns her body back towards the direction of the TV and leans back. I pick up the remote, once more, and turn the volume back on.

I didn't really pay attention to the show for two reasons: one, I had seen this episode so many times it wasn't even funny, and two, I was distracted by Thalia.

Why did she come here? She could've chosen to be alone, yet she chose to be with me. Did that mean anything? She had only been here once for a party, about a year ago, yet she remembered where it was. Did _that_ mean anything?

Gods, I haven't seen her in months, why aren't I saying anything!

"Want anything to drink?" I asked her.

Smooth, Nico.

"Just some water, thanks." Her eyes didn't leave the screen.

I walked over to the kitchen area and grabbed a glass cup from the wooden cabinet, and opened the door to the stainless steel refrigerator to fill the glass with water. When the glass was filled, I walked back to Thalia and handed her the glass.

This time, she tore her gaze away from the screen and took the glass from my outstretched arm.

"Thanks," she said before sucking down half of the glass.

Damn.

"You want me to get you some more?" I offered.

"No thanks." She set the glass down on the dark cherry wood coffee table." When's your roommate going to be home?"

Wasn't expecting that one.

"Sometime after nine." I looked at the clock on the cable box. It was seven thirty.

I sat back down; there was still time left if she wanted to be out of here before Carlos got back.

"Is that a problem?" I raised my eyebrows at her.

She didn't answer me. Instead, she stood up in front of me and put her hands on my shoulders. She was bending over slightly and her face couldn't have been more than two feet away from mine. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just sat there and waited for her to do whatever it was that she was going to do.

She sat down on my lap and straddled me. She put her hands behind my neck and her face couldn't have been more than a foot away.

"You know one good thing about not being a huntress anymore?" her voice was low.

She didn't let me respond," I'm a bachelorette again and we're both sixteen now."

"Isn't that two things?" I smirked.

Her face was about ten inches away, "Does it matter?"

"I guess not," it was getting harder to breathe, but that wasn't the only thing that was getting harder.

Six inches away.

"Your guess is right, Dead Boy. Congratulations," her voice was getting lower and lower.

Three inches away and I just couldn't stand it any longer.

I made those three inches disappear and it felt like a fire had begun to burn inside of me when my lips met hers.

Her fingers immediately tangled in my hair and I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Out tongues battled for dominance and, eventually, we ended up lying down on the couch with Thalia on the bottom and myself on the top.

Thalia was- surprisingly- an amazing kisser. What was even more surprising was the fact that this wasn't just a hot make-out session; there was passion in the kisses.

Thalia began to pull my shirt up and I pulled away from her lips for a split second so I could get it off. In no time at all, my lips were back on hers and she was running her hands up my eight-pack. I was moaning uncontrollably, but I didn't really care; all I wanted was for her to never stop.

I ran my right hand up her shirt and started stroking her skin, which got her moaning.

It seemed like there wasn't any time in the world and I didn't have a problem with it.

Then, while Thalia was kissing my neck, the phone rang.

"Shit," I murmured. I didn't want any interruptions.

"Forget the damn phone," Thalia said breathlessly.

Damn, the sound of her voice was a turn on.

Her lips were back on mine and I used my hand to put it on the back of her head to pull her even closer, if that were possible. She moaned and my body seemed to heat up a little bit.

It was amazing, what she could do to me.

The phone was still ringing. I wish it would just stop already. That damn thing should know how important this moment is to me. Ridiculous, I know, but still.

I reluctantly pulled my lips away from Thalia's, "I need to get that," I told her, even though my body was screaming at me to never stop.

But that was the problem. I was afraid that if I let my body have its way, Thalia and I would take it too far. I wasn't ready for that- I didn't even have a condom and I sure as hell wasn't searching the apartment to see if Carlos had one- and I was pretty sure that Thalia wasn't ready either. Plus, I didn't want to cause myself to have too many regrets.

I quickly walked over to where the phone was and answered it.

"Hello?" I tried not to sound breathless.

"Hey man! Class has ended and my lady wants to see a movie," Carlos' cheerful voice boomed through the speaker of the phone, "I just didn't want you to freak out and think that I was lying dead on the streets when I didn't come home."

I wanted to tell him that I wouldn't freak out because I would feel it if he died, but instead, I just said, "That's cool. Tell Ashley I said hi."

"You got it. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

_Click._

I turned around to see Thalia still lying in the same position I had left her in, with her arms at her side. Her chest was heaving.

I slowly walked over to her, unsure of what to say or do. She sat up, when I was about two feet away, and pulled her knees to her chest. Her expression was blank as she stared at the couch cushion.

I placed my right hand on her left knee and let out a deep breath I wasn't even aware that I had been holding in.

"Did you mean it?" Thalia's voice was guarded.

"Mean what?" I was confused. Did I say something while we were making out? I tried to remember, but I couldn't.

"Did you kiss me because you were horny or did it mean something to you?" I could hear in her voice that she was starting to regret everything.

That was a punch in the gut.

"It meant something to me, but if you want to forget it, fine."

If you read between the lines, I'm actually saying: "This fucking meant something to me and if you stomp on my heart and just walk out of here, I'll hold a grudge against you. It's what I do. Deal with it."

She raised her head and searched my face with her eyes. A couple of seconds passed before she put her right hand on my cheek and draped her legs over mine. I put my arms around her waist and pulled her close. She put her lips on mine for one slow, passionate kiss. When she pulled back, her eyes seemed to shine.

"I need to go," she stood up and briskly walked to the door.

I followed behind her, "What happens now?" I needed to know- wasting time wasn't something that I liked to do.

She abruptly turned around and put her arms around my neck. It was automatic for me to put my hands on her hips.

"If you touch another girl like you've touched me tonight and I find out, you will live with your father for eternity and I'll make sure that your death is slow and painful," her voice was low and dangerous.

I raised my eyebrows in slight shock, "Harsh words."

"Do I look like I care?" her eyebrows were raised as well, but not in shock.

"Do I look like the cheating type to you?"

"So I do look like I care? That sucks."

"You're such a smartass," I paused, "And I am not a fucking cheater."

"We'll see," she murmured before leaning in for another kiss.

I could get used to this.

She pulled back, "I should probably leave now or I'll end up staying here forever."

"Good," I grinned.

"I'm sure it is."

She broke our embrace, opened the door, and stepped out into the night. I watched her walk to her car and drive off before closing the door.

I need more surprise visits from her.

**A/N: So how was it? I'm sick, so I wrote it on paper last night and, oh my gosh, I was leaving out words and using bad grammar. Oh my gosh, I hope this isn't too bad. D: So tell me, did it suck? Did you like it? Which one is it? Tell me in a review. :]**


	2. We Meet Again

**Disclaimer: I still don't own PJO. *sigh* But I do own the idea to this story! :D**

**Thalia's POV**

I stood in the shower and let the hot water run down my body. It burned slightly, but I didn't mind too much. I rubbed the shaving cream onto my long, tan legs and watched it lather. I picked up my razor and ran it up my leg, causing the foam to disappear. My skin was smooth and hairless with some cuts here and there. Damn monsters.

I finished shaving and rinsed off before shutting the water off and squeezing the water out of my smooth, black hair. I let go of my hair and it feel down just above my breasts. I grabbed my towel and dried my body off. The towel felt warm and rough.

I opened my drawer, picked up my brush, and began to harshly brush my hair until all the tangles had been combed away. I put my undergarments on and began my morning routine of getting ready- except it wasn't morning. It was six o'clock at night.

When I had finished, I looked in the mirror and was surprised at how intense my eyes looked, how perfect and in-place my make up looked. My black eyeliner and mascara looked darker than ever; my gold eye shadow looked deeper and more noticeable than ever. It was bizarre.

I walked out of my bathroom, across my apartment hall, and into my bedroom. I opened one of the tan wooden drawers to my dresser and pulled out a plain black v-neck and gray short-shorts. Again, it seemed bizarre when I looked into the mirror. I was wearing a very simple outfit, but somehow it seemed to look perfect for…my destination, my situation.

I walked out of my room, towards the front door and put on my black Converse. I didn't allow myself to think about where I was going. I was so close to leaving and being one step closer to dealing with this situation; I couldn't back out now.

I flung the door open and briskly walked to my 2010 black Mercedes Benz. It seemed hot inside the car so I turned the air on high. But then it seemed too cold, so I turned it down. The temperature kept changing every five minutes. I got so fed up with it that I decided to just roll my window down and let the cool, autumn air whip through my hair, while the heater was on inside the car. It may have been a waste to do that, but it helped and that's all that mattered to me.

I pulled up to an Italian restaurant and parked my car in a space near the entrance. I took a deep breath and climbed out of my car.

There were people everywhere inside and it smelled of pasta and unfamiliar spices. The tables were a dark cherry wood and the tables clothes were a brilliant white. The man at the front smiled at me and asked for my name.

"I have someone here that's waiting for me," I told him.

"Ah, yes. I know who you mean," he gave me another welcoming smile.

Well, alright then. Maybe I was the only person who had someone waiting for them.

He led me outside- away from the bustling crowd- towards a brass table by the edge of the restaurant. It was almost isolated.

The guy sitting at the table flashed a smile at me and while I'd never admit it out loud, it gave me "butterflies," as Aphrodite would say.

I suddenly had the urge to be alone with him. I didn't want anyone around us.

"I'm fine," I told the host even though he hadn't asked me how I was. I gave him a smile and a look that clearly said "go away."

The host looked confused for a second, but then nodded his head, smiled one last time, and told me to enjoy my night. I turned my attention back to the guy at the table.

He was tanner than the last time I saw him, and his eyes were a deep, dark brown. I could tell that he had gotten a couple of inches taller as well, even though he was sitting down. His biceps and abs showed through his black t-shirt. He was wearing black skinny jeans and his famous skull ring.

"Nico Di Angelo," I smiled as I sat down across from him, "we meet again," I said mockingly.

"Thalia Grace, looking," his eyes traveled up and down my body," beautiful as always."

I raised my eyebrows at him, "Really?"

He smirked, "Would I lie to you?"

"You're a son of Hades, you tell me," I said cheekily.

"'The worst thing about being lied to is knowing that you weren't worth the truth,'" he quoted.

I snorted, "Who said that?"

"Not sure," he grinned at me.

I laughed, "Of course you wouldn't."

"The point is, you're worth the truth to me, so I wouldn't lie to you," his expression was serious.

It didn't used to be like this between us. We used to never say these things to each other; we used to never flirt. But things change, people change. While we weren't one hundred percent different, there had been changes in us- some good, some…not so much.

"Why did you want to meet me here? Besides you being in love with your heritance," I smirked at his choice of restaurant.

"I haven't seen in you three months now," he said quietly, "I don't know if you've noticed or not, but that's a long-ass time."

I let out a laugh, but it didn't have any humor in it. "I know," I shook my head and smirked at him, "Gods you missed me, didn't you?" I teased him.

"Oh, yeah," he laughed.

I didn't say what I wanted to yell at him. Now wasn't the time. Besides, our waiter, Becky, came over and started taking our orders. I noted that she was very insistent on getting anything that Nico needed.

_Desperate, much? I think so_, I thought to myself.

We talked about anything and everything throughout dinner and I was surprised by Nico's offer at the end of our dinner.

"Will you come back to my apartment with me?" he asked.

I could tell that he wasn't trying to get me to have a one-night stand with him, but I was still hesitant.

"Sure," I finally said.

He raised his eyebrows at me, questioning whether or not I really wanted to go.

I did my best to act annoyed. "Are we going to stand here all day or are we leaving?" I questioned.

He smiled at me, "Let's go, Pinecone Face," he taunted.

About twenty minutes later, I was standing inside Nico's apartment. It was dark- no surprise there- and had a lot of leather furniture- another thing that wasn't surprising.

"So, we're here why?" I asked as he kicked his shoes off in the direction of the right corner of the room.

"Why did you agree to come here if you weren't even sure of that?" he laughed.

I just stared at him, "Huh?"

"Thals, you didn't think that I was going to talk to you about us where other people could intrude, or where you wouldn't be completely honest with me, did you?" his eyebrows were raised and his head was slightly tilted to the side.

I became stiff, "What's there to say about us?"

"That's not the question. The question is, what isn't there to say about us?" he gave me a sort of sad look.

"Would you like anything?" he offered me, even though we had just eaten.

_You to stop playing with my heart._

"I'm fine, thanks," I shook my head.

He shrugged and walked over to the couch to sit down. I followed behind him and kicked my shoes off. I sat down, leaning against the arm of the chair, and draped my legs over his thighs.

"Talk," I commanded.

He let out a deep breath, "Why did we fall out of touch for three months?"

I didn't look him in the eye. I bit my lip and answered lamely, "I don't know."

"Try again, Thalia," he rolled his eyes.

"We're busy people."

"Again."

"Our schedules don't match up."

"One last time."

"Why don't you try?" I retorted.

"Jealousy," was all he said.

My stomach suddenly felt like a weight had just dropped through it.

"You were jealous?" I taunted.

"You were," he stated flatly, clearly not amused with my joking around.

"Fucking Julie," I muttered under my breath.

"I was not," he objected.

I reached out and shocked him, "Hey, dumbass, I was cursing her name- not accusing you of sleeping with her."

"Well, I still didn't do it," he paused, "Literally, I didn't."

I rolled my eyes, "My gods. Next question."

"Technically, you didn't answer my first question," he pointed out.

"I was being serious about being busy," I objected.

"Alright, alright," he pinched the bridge of his nose, "Are you seeing anyone?"

"What is this? An interrogation?" I crossed my arms across my chest.

"Like you didn't know," he laughed without any humor in it.

"No," I answered.

"No, you didn't know? Or no, you aren't seeing anyone?"

"Relationship status: single. You would know that if you went on Facebook more often," I informed him.

He laughed at my natural instinct to be a smartass. "Is it just flirting between us or…" he trailed off.

"For me…yes and no," he gave me a doubtful look," I mean, obviously I'm flirting with you, but it's not just that."

"Then what's stopping you from being with me?" his gaze made me shrink a tiny bit.

Then I realized that I was letting him intimidate me, so I sat up straight, and positioned myself to sit on his lap completely. I put my arms around his neck and rested my forehead against his.

"I don't know," my voice was low and I laughed at how ridiculous I was acting.

"Do you love the chase more than you love me?" he questioned.

I was not expecting that one. The tension between us was thick.

I wanted this. Everyone was going to end up falling in love at some point in their life- it was a part of life. And everyone was eventually going to end up staying with someone that they had fallen in love with. I wanted Nico to be the one that I would stay with.

"No," I finally whispered.

He put his hand on my cheek and pulled me in. His lips were soft and his tongue rubbed against mine. I tangled my hands in his hair. Our kisses went from slow to more insistent.

About ten minutes later, we ended up on Nico's bed with him lying on top of me. He reached up my shirt and unstrapped my bra. I fell into a state of bliss.

When I awoke the next morning, I wasn't wearing anything except underwear and one of Nico's t-shirts. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth because honestly, morning-breath is not a turn on.

I walked out of the bedroom. Nico was standing in the kitchen, talking on the phone with a can of Coke in his hand. I stifled a giggle. Nico would be the one to drink soda in the morning.

Apparently, he saw me out of the corner of his eye. "I'll call you later," he told whoever he was talking to.

He hung up and put his slim, black phone back in his pocket. He smiled at me. "Morning."

I laughed. "Morning. Is it good or bad so far?" I asked.

"Now that you're here, it's amazing." I laughed again. "Oh, the phone call. It was work. I might have to go in early."

I searched his face for any signs that he was lying. I didn't find any. "Oh. Well, that sucks."

He leaned in and kissed me. "I don't have to go yet."

I smiled. "Really? Did you have plans then?"

"Oh yeah," he laughed.

I was curious. "What are we doing?"

"Something that doesn't suck," he joked.

I rolled my eyes. "Like what?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes," I answered suspiciously.

"Then go get dressed."

I raised my eyebrows and just stared at him for a moment. "Fine."

I turned to walk back to the bedroom and reached the door before he called to me, "Do you have a dress you can go home and pick up?"

I turned around. "Yes. But it may not be appropriate. We'll never know until it's too late unless you tell me now where we're going."

He let out a laugh. "Yeah right, Thals. I'll pick one up for you."

"How do you know my size?"

"I just know, babe. I just know."

I turned and closed the door before he could see me blush. Damn him.

**A/N: I'M BACK! :D Now, a lot of you guys wanted me to continue this so I shall just for you guys. Also, to the person that called me a bastard for making it a one-shot: you crack me up. xD And there are things that are not explained- I know, I know- but they'll be explained throughout the story. Have a little patience with me, will ya? And Nico and Thalia did not have sex. Just to clear that up. So, tell me what you think! :D **


	3. The Story of Us

**Thalia's POV**

I looked down at the floor as his words washed over me. "Why are we even together?" he had asked. I don't even remember what we were fighting about. It seemed like we were fighting over everything: who was right, who was wrong; who was at fault for our parents not approving of us; who was being the lazier one in the relationship.

I raised my gaze to meet Nico's. "Fuck. You," I said through clenched teeth.

Nico glared at me. I had never seen him look at me that way before. There was so much hatred in his eyes. It almost sent shivers down my spine. "You know, I'm surprised you and I even made it a year."

I looked away again as hot tears started to form in my eyes. I knew he was right. We were too headstrong to work, constantly fighting for power. Maybe this was why children of the Big Three didn't date. We're too alike. We kill each other quicker than we love each other.

I wasn't ever going to give him the satisfaction of making me cry. "Get out," I ordered, my voice like a knife cutting through the air. "Now."

I heard him walk towards the door of my apartment and slam it shut behind him a second later. I stood there for a few minutes trying to calm down before finally giving up and crying over what I thought, for the second time in my life, had been love.

I walked out of my cabin and smiled to myself as the feeling of the holidays bubbled up inside of me. Things were slowly getting better for me. I had been hurt- though I wouldn't ever admit it to anyone- when Nico and I had split. I had cursed his name like never before and tried to erase everything out of my life that reminded me of him.

But I worked hard to pick myself back up and move on with life, and look at me now: happy, getting ready for the holidays and my birthday, and after two years of going back-and-forth with fighting and getting along, Nico and I have already made an agreement to be friends and move past the whole messy break up situation once and for all. We were just going to bury it all, as if we had never been together at all.

I believe that we can get past this because I'm over Nico already. I still think that we had some good times together, but if we didn't work. I try not to waste my time on lost causes, so this whole thing just needs to end. Everything can go back to the way it was when I was still in the huntresses- except I won't actually be in the hunt- and I was pretty good friends with Nico, nothing more.

I stepped down the stairs that led to my cabin and walked towards the lake. When I got there I was greeted by Travis and Connor, Percy and Annabeth, Grover and Juniper, and Nico.

I sat down beside Annabeth. "So why are we hanging out near the lake in the middle of winter?" I asked.

"Where else would we go?" Percy shot back.

"Somewhere warm?" I laughed.

"Owned," Connor joked. Travis laughed.

Grover turned to Nico. "When's Julie getting here?"

"I don't know. Soon. She said she just needed to finish giving advice to Melanie or something." He shrugged.

Julie. Oh, Julie. She's a daughter of Apollo and can come off as just a little too perfect in my opinion. There was something wrong with her. She was hiding it. I just knew it. And when her secret spills I'll be there laughing.

"How sweet," Juniper gushed.

Annabeth laughed. "You think almost anything's sweet."

"I do not," Juniper protested.

Nico interrupted them. "Hey, here comes Julie."

I turned my head to the right to see Julie emerge from the woods, walk up to Nico, and give him a hug. Her blonde hair blew gently in the breeze and her hazel eyes sparkled in the sunlight. Add on the fact that her teeth were almost perfect and I was almost sick right then and there.

Before you say it, no I am not jealous. Stop thinking that right now. I will take my dark hair and bright blue eyes over her blonde hair and light brown eyes. I will gladly take my strength, determination, and killer sense of humor over her peppiness, plans for peace, and love for the theater. Besides I was a much better archer than she was.

Now don't get me wrong, I recognize the fact that Julie had some good things about her. She was passionate about what she did (especially when it came to her looks, which made me question how shallow she was) and did try her best to solve conflicts for others. Her way of life was just too different from mine for me to feel any connection to her. But if Nico liked her and was happy than good for them. It helped Nico and I truly move on, and she gave me someone to laugh at.

"How's it going, guys?" she asked.

A chorus of _good_s and "how are you?" echoed through the air. She and Nico sat down and we all got caught up on each other's lives. After about three hours of laughing, talking, and generally making fools out of ourselves Julie was being called by her sister Melanie again and had to go. Before she left she turned to Nico and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Get some!" Travis yelled.

Julie turned and let out a fake laugh. "He's getting more than you'll ever get, Stoll," she said seriously.

I had to admit, that was pretty funny.

Melanie's voice reached where we were all sitting, calling for Julie again, and Julie ran off to help her with whatever stupid drama was going on in her life. It wasn't long after she had left when it was announced that dinner was ready.

I ate at my table in silence. Nico and Percy did the same at their tables. Being a child of the Big Three could get lonely sometimes, to be honest. I liked to be alone every once in a while and to not have people ruling my life, but I still wanted someone to be there with me when I got _too_ lonely. That's what friends are for, I guess. Still it isn't the same as having a sibling…

Most people were getting up from their tables now, finished with their food, and headed off to the campfire to roast marshmallows and sing songs for the rest of the night. I didn't feel like going tonight. I scraped the rest of my food off into the fire, not even bothering to thank my father or anything of the likes, and walked towards my cabin.

I caught sight of Artemis's cabin and felt an odd twinge of guilt. I gave up on them for the selfish desire of wanting to go down the road I once left behind, fell in love, and now I was all alone once again. It seemed that the huntresses liked to predict my future—accurately, too.

'No!' I told myself. They didn't predict it accurately. They had predicted that Luke would let me down and he never did. The huntresses didn't decide my future with their predictions. I decided it, and there was nothing they could do about it.

I let out a breath angrily, almost like a bull does before it attacks someone, and walked faster. The huntresses were part of my past. The past is done. I can't go back.

"Geez, slow down!"

I jumped and turned on my heel to see who was following me. Nico. Great. Just great.

"I didn't mean to piss you off so quickly." He walked to me with no sign of being in a rush to say or do anything.

"What?" I asked; eager to get away from everyone else. Now was one of the times when being an only child of one of the Big Three was a good thing.

He didn't seem to understand my question. Probably because I hadn't worded it very well—or worded it very much at all. "I didn't think that walking behind you or trying to talk to you would piss you off," Nico explained unnecessarily.

"No, I mean 'what do you want?'" I crossed my arms across my chest then remembered that it was body language for trying to protect yourself from something. I didn't want to look like I felt threatened so I lowered my arms back to my sides.

Nico almost glared at me and opened his mouth to come back with a snarky response but stopped himself. I couldn't blame him; I had sounded pretty rude right now, especially because he hadn't done anything to me tonight—yet. He regained his composure and asked, "Are we good?" He continued on after I gave him a questioning look, "Like, we're still friends?"

"Oh," I said in understanding. "Yes, we're friends."

"Alright, so do you want to go ice skating tomorrow?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Who else is going?"

"No one; just you and me."

"Oh." I looked away for a moment and then looked back at him. "Can Annabeth come? We already talked about hanging out tomorrow," I lied. Being alone with Nico could potentially be _really_ awkward. I didn't want to go into that stage yet. I would rather be friends in group gatherings for a while.

He didn't exactly look hurt; more confused as to why I hadn't just agreed to hang out with him and see Annabeth later. "If you want."

I felt kind of bad. Nico was trying just as hard as I was to move along. He was trying to be nice and invite me to things, but I just didn't know if I was ready or not. "Yeah, I do," I responded honestly.

"Well, then I'll see you two tomorrow." He held out his arms; almost in the way that seemed like he was gonna shrug dramatically. When I didn't hold out mine he said amusedly, "Friends hug, you know.

"Yeah, I know." I wrapped my arms around him and caught a whiff of his scent: the same soap he always used (Irish Spring) and the ever-present smell of death. The smell of death had never bothered me. In fact it smelled pretty good to me after I started hanging around Nico more often.

I came back to my senses and realized that I had been holding on longer than friends usually do. I stepped back from him and nodded awkwardly. "I'll see you later then."

"Okay," Nico said casually, like there was nothing to worry about, especially not me being very attracted to him right now and thinking about all the times we had made out, or the first time I had slept in the same bed as him and he had learned that I secretly loved when people stroked my hair.

I turned and started to walk away. A few steps later I stopped. "Nico," I called to him.

He turned back to look at me. "Yeah?"

"Thanks. For…being there for me."

"No problem." He smiled (that really good-looking smile of his) at me and turned back around.

I didn't watch him go; just headed back to my cabin. When I reached it I slammed the door shut behind me and leaned against it for a while. I could not let myself get attached to him again. I couldn't fall for him after all the work that I had done to get over him.

I opened one of the drawers in my wardrobe and picked through the pile of clothes in it until I found a picture of Nico and I that I had left in there. We were standing in Central Park, ignoring Rachel, who had taken the picture (which I thanked her for later), and laughing. Nico had one of his hands placed on my lower back and the other on top of one of my hands, which I had placed on his cheek. I remembered Nico acting dramatic about something- probably being insulted or hurt- and looking away from me, but still jokingly telling me that I was so rude. I had told him to look at me, but he refused. After a few more times of ordering him to look at me I put my hands on his face and forced him to turn his head towards me. "Look at me," I said unnecessarily because he already was. He started laughing and pretty soon I was too. He reached up and put his hand on top of mine and _snap_ Rachel created yet another masterpiece, but this time with a camera not a paintbrush.

I loved this photo. Nico and I had been happy. It brought back good memories. But with it, it also brought back the feeling of how much I had loved being _with_ him. I was like a recovering alcoholic (which my mother never was, unfortunately) and I still needed to have the temptations put out of sight and reach. 'One step at a time,' I thought.

I took a deep breath. As I let it out I tore the photo in half. I tore it again and again and again, until it was just pieces of a puzzle. A puzzle I was trying to never put back together. I tossed the pieces in the trash and flopped down on my bed.

I didn't feel satisfied. I felt like I had just torn a part of my heart up. That picture had been one of my favorites and I had just ruined it. It seemed that my love for Nico was not going to go down easy. It would put up a fight until it couldn't fight anymore. I would just have to be stronger.

In case you give a crap, the next few months after that did improve somewhat. I did go ice skating with Nico and Annabeth the next day. It turned out better than I expected. As time went by I didn't get insanely attached and stalk Nico or anything freaky and obsessive like that. In fact I barely heard anything about his life at all when I wasn't with him. I didn't even find out that Julie had dumped him until almost a month after it happened. Not that I was complaining or anything.

Though that didn't stop me from missing a piece of the past every once in a while when he did some of the same things from when we were dating. Occasionally he braided my hair (one of the things Bianca had taught him to do before she had died) and he made our little group dinner once (which made me think of all those times he used to make us dinner and we would watch reality TV shows while we ate, and make fun of the people on them). It seemed that the small things were some of the things that I missed the most. They were the bits that added up to the big picture. It was hard not to love them.

I bet some of you expected something dramatic and exciting to happen. I hate to disappoint you, but the most exciting thing that happened was that I went to a Panic! At the Disco concert. Other than that I didn't much besides the usual of work and seeing friends once in a while. Mostly I just sat on my ass at home and spent my time on the computer. Some demigods are worried about monsters finding them because of electronics, but the ones that do waste their time stalking you that way aren't hard to beat. I took my chances, and they paid off—I had entertainment.

But I guess life got somewhat exciting a bit later. However "exciting" may be kind of a sick term to use for what happened. You'll just have to wait for the really interesting stuff to happen. Be patient, people. Be patient.

A shrill ring cut through the air and I jabbed my mascara into my eyeball when I jumped. "Ow," I muttered. I dropped the mascara brush on the counter and went to search for the phone in my apartment. Where had I set it down earlier…

Finally I found it under the blanket on the couch. I answered it quickly, thinking that it was Clarisse (shocking, I know, but she was actually pretty cool once you got to know her) asking about whether I was leaving to meet her at the movies yet. "Hello?"

"Hey." The voice that came through the speaker of the phone did sound like someone who had been waiting for me. It just wasn't Clarisse. This person had been waiting to hear from me for three months now.

"Nico. Hey. What's up?" I sounded more confused than nervous, which was probably a good thing- at least for me.

Being Nico he didn't waste his time. He cut to the point right away. "Want to go out on Friday and catch up on what I presume is our lives?"

I hesitated. There were things had become clear to me these past few months: first, I couldn't stop loving Nico. He was one of those people that had managed to leave permanent "footsteps" in my life (or at least that's what I read on some Hallmark card and I was somewhat ashamed to have a small connection with it). Second, if you truly want something you can't give up on it. If you do you'll be angry at yourself for giving up on it. You'll always be left wondering what could have been, and that's one of the worst feelings: wondering if your life could have been better with one little change.

When thinking of all of this I made my decision. "That sounds good." It did. It also made me antsy thinking about what could happen, but I would rather try to work things out and be able to say that I didn't give up, than not try at all.

"Great." He gave me the directions to some restaurant (is that an Italian name?) and I jotted them down on a new text on my cell phone (there wasn't any paper or a pen around, okay? Stop judging. You probably do it too). "I'll see you Friday."

"Yeah," I said. I inhaled and exhaled slowly. 'Deep breaths,' I thought. 'Stay calm and don't lose your facade. Let the world see what they think they see. Don't lead them on to see something that you don't want them to.' "I'll see you Friday."

'Every second matters.' The stupid AT&T commercial ran through my mind and I realized just how true some of these advertisements can be. I had been on the phone with Nico for hardly three minutes and already had plans to go see him again after three months of ignoring him (the magic number seems to be three this year, despite my hate for that number).

His voice shook me back into reality. "Okay. Bye, bullone." He hung up, and that was that.

I held my breath for a long moment before letting it out sharply. He hadn't called me "bullone" since we had stopped going out. It was Italian for "bolt", a nickname he had gotten for me when that stupid 'Bolt' movie came out and he had teased me about the dog being me after Hera finally turned me into a dog when I spoke back to her for the millionth time. It had been a stupid thing, but he always called me that whenever I got snippy or pissed (which I usually didn't find funny at the time, so I would shock him when he said it). I wondered why he had called me that just now.

I didn't dwell on it for long, though. Something else came to mind: Friday was tomorrow. Damn Nico and his lack of use of the word "tomorrow".

I glanced at the clock and saw that I was going to be late to the movie if I didn't leave now. I grabbed my hoodie and ran out the door. My worry for what I was going to do tomorrow would just have to wait. No matter, I could always just stay up all night worrying. Who needs sleep anyway? Sleep is for the weak.

I sighed. This should be fun.

**A/N: My Lord, that took me a long time to write. A year and almost a day to be exact. ;) In all seriousness I apologize for the wait. Thank you so much to those who are still with this story and to the ones who have added it on to alert even after all this time. I hope this chapter was a good one—it's my longest one for this story so far. Tell me what you think in a review. I'll try and update the next chapter much sooner than I did for this one. =)**


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